Leonardo da Vinci’s genius still amazes us – not surprisingly Luca Pacioli, mathematician, economist and collaborator defined him in De Divina Proportione as «The most worthy among painters, those who study perspective, architects and musicians, a man in possession of all the necessary virtues […]».

Among Leonardo’s contributions to the world of art, science and technology, his contribution to the game of chess should not be overlooked. Using the relationship between Pacioli and Leonardo as the basis along with the re-discovery of the lost work of art De Ludo Scachorum or Schifanoia, Milan’s PwC space hosts the exhibition called La via geometrica. Da Scaccomatto agli scacchi di Leonardo, by Franco Rocco, architect and chess lover. The exposition also presents the re-release of his book Leonardo e Luca Pacioli. L’evidenza (Publishing house Due Torri, Bologna). On the one hand the aim is to highlight Leonardo’s role in the evolution of the game of chess, while on the other it intends to analyse the method with which Rocco approached the study of Pacioli’s work.

Franco Rocco’s research is based on the finding of a manuscript about the game of chess in Gorizia – dated between 1497 and 1508 – which also points to Leonardo’s participation in its creation: in some points his hand is evident. From this study it also becomes clear that in the ancient manuscripts the chess pieces were only vaguely made out figures, while in Pacioli’s manuscript the chess boards present well-defined and elegant pieces, more proof of Leonardo’s hand. In his studies Rocco also attests to the fact that Leonardo illustrated fifty-eight of the one hundred-fourteen chess problems contained in the manuscript, demonstrating he knew how to play chess.

Moreover, according to Rocco, Leonardo was the first to allude to the castle chess move – which limits for the first time the queen’s advantage, normally superior to all other pieces – in the sense that we intend it today, through the solution of a puzzle that is contained in the large Windsor paper number 12692 (circa 1487-90), leaving us with the suspicion that Leonardo might had invented this move as well. Thus, da Vinci not only played chess, but was an extremely gifted chess player.

The exhibition, open to the public from September 8-30th, will also present Scaccomatto, a game made by Rocco – as well as being a homage to Balthus – composed of black bronze pieces and white pieces in silver-coated bronze which can be re-composed using a joint system with two cubes that hold the thirty two pieces. Rocco focuses his attention on the shape of the pieces destined to be part of the game of chess, which in the manuscript are reproduced with care and characterized by elegant forms, revealing once more Leonardo’s genius. The exhibition also includes a video section that presents the breakdown of the cube, Scaccomatto and La Via di Colombo, a sphere composed of thirty-seven parts in wood and bronze that can be opened and taken apart using the symbolism carved on its surface as a guide, a labyrinth in which one can lose himself.